LA Clippers Defensive Player of the Year: Kawhi Leonard
The Klaw can’t go home without an award, and sure enough, the Defensive Player of the Year goes to Kawhi Leonard. He’s been great while the LA Clippers figure out how exactly they want the defense to look and work. It’s nice to be able to tinker with a defense knowing that you have a defender like Kawhi to stabilize things.
On the advanced metrics side of things, Kawhi leads the LA Clippers in Defensive Box Plus-Minus (0.9), he leads the Clippers in Defensive Win Shares (0.6), and he leads the team in Steal Percentage (3%). Going to counting stats, he leads the team in steals (2.1 per game), he’s fourth in blocks (0.6) and fourth in defensive rebounds (3.9).
But the nerd stuff alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Kawhi is still pulling out some of the most soul-crushing and destructive defensive plays in the league, like in the Kings game when he just bullied De’Aaron Fox and yanked the ball mid-drive, then hit the three on the other end.
It’s hard to quantify those sorts of plays. On the stat sheet, it will just go down as one steal and one three pointer. But so would Luke Kennard grabbing a bad pass and then getting open off of an off-ball screen for a three. Kawhi is the master of these destructive steals that leave the opposing offense thinking about him well after the play is done.
The LA Clippers are giving up an average of 107.8 points per game. A team averaging that kind of scoring would be 23rd in the league, just ahead of the Charlotte Hornets. The Clippers are playing Lou Williams, Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard a combined 55.6 minutes per game, and they’re holding opposing offenses to well below the league average scoring.
For anchoring that kind of defense, and for pulling off some defensive plays that make your jaw drop, Kawhi Leonard takes home the Seth Kimbrell DPOY Award Through 15 Games.